Fuzzy Coconuts
by Spicey Doodles
Summary: A gender neutral farmer plans to give their dear friend Linus a wonderful birthday. Slow burn friendship turn to more, with an unexpected surprise for both parties. A kind gift leads to deep conversation, which leads to confessions, which... could lead to more uwu


Linus fic

It was a bone-chilling Winters morning in the village of Stardew Valley. Soft flakes of white swirled and floated down from the sky, kissed goodbye by the humble clouds blanketing the skies. The ghostly breath of the winds tousled the light fabrics of the citizens' coats, pushing a sharp twinge of chill through their bodies. The young children stayed hunkered down in their homes, much to their doting mothers' requests while their troublesome teens spent time goofing off, throwing snowballs and watching their saliva freeze over one of the rivers' bridges. The town doctor hurriedly stocked his medicine cabinets in preparation for the colds and flu cases that would fly by his store, readying himself for the elderly's needs this wintry season. The business owners stoked their hearths for the hope of a chilled villager to rush through their doors looking for solace from the piercing winds. It was going to be a long winter.

But it was only the beginning. The third day of Winter, to be exact. Not many villagers took to the exact day with any thought, since it was just another day closer to Gift day to them. But to the most recent farmer, it was a very special day. The Farmer rose early that morning, racing to their Barns and Coops to tend to their animals before the snow made it difficult to wade through their own land.

"Here ya go babies, fresh feed straight from the silo." They smiled, throwing down some seed for the chickens and ducks. A nice little treat to keep them plump and healthy against the deadly cold, along with the healthy feed that automatically emptied itself from the silo into a long feeding tray. They smiled as the newest duckling tried to pick up the small seeds, flapping and quacking in protest of the stubborn seeds. While the birds ate their breakfast, the farmer reached a gentle hand under the ladies rears. Passing by the soft down feathers and plucking their mornings eggs. As their hand left from under the avian bodies, they gave their backs a gentle pet and hoped the precious family members forgave them for today's harvest. While profusely apologizing, they set each egg into a basket, counting and recounting every time their mind wandered away from the eggs just so they wouldn't leave a single egg behind.

"Three, four, five...six! Perfect score!" They giggled, giving the birdies one last good head pat before heading to the door. "Now ill be back tonight you guys, be nice to each other until dinnertime. I'm watching you, Snark." They gave one particular chicken a wave of the finger. He had a reputation.

Caring for the barn animals was a breeze. A milking here, a shear there, and fur brushing for everyone. Buzz buzz buzz... The farmer felt the care for harvesting from these animals was a bit less...invasive than the fowls'. Once every animal was properly fed, watered, and loved the sun had already risen a fair amount, not that it would be easy to tell. The sky hung gray and cold over the bluffs, making it quite easy for seasonal depression to fall upon the quiet mountain town. The farmer wadded through the snowy farmlands on their way to one of the many storage chests in the little corner of the farm.

"Where, oh where did I put...there you are..!" The farmer nearly jumped when they found their precious gift. The gift that they've been working to give but has restrained themselves for nearly a year. Maybe they've gone a bit overboard in planning, as they were prone to do, but this was important to them. As far as they knew, their friend almost never got a decent birthday gift in the past decade. The farmer would not stand for it.

The villager that this farmer was so enthused to meet called himself by the name of Linus. He was, for a lack of better words, the town hermit. He was an older man that always wore some form of shawl made of the tree leaves near his tent. He was kind, never wanting to disturb the precious lives of the others that called this mountainside their home. No, he was content with just surviving by himself off of the gifts of nature herself. It wasn't like the other villagers loathed or shunned or disliked him in anyway, he just chose to reject the lifestyle, opting to live with the wilderness. The farmer was wary of Linus at first, thanks to his polite request to be left alone. But after seeing the older man sift through the towns garbage cans for food, they wanted to befriend him to get his perspective, while sneaking him some homemade food to warm his kind heart.

The farmer stuffed the wrapped gift into their heavy coat pocket and started the journey from their farm path up the hill to the wilderness. There were a few places they knew Linus would be. Some days he would stand near the river and speak with the fish, other mornings he would sit in front of his campfire roasting his foraged goods, muttering to the stoked flames. But some afternoons he would spend near the railroads, sitting outside the towns secret day spa. The farmers' breath puffed out from their mouth in heavy warm bursts, dancing free in the frigid air as if their lungs had been restraining the warmth within. Their eyes glanced quickly around the opening in the dirt paths brush, hoping to not see the old man freezing his beard off.

"Linus, I hope you're warm and safe in the heated building and not squatting in that stupid cave..." They murmured to themselves, turning and hiking up towards the day spa. The journey was fast, but what they found shoved an ice pick in the pit of the farmers' stomach. Linus wasn't in his usual spot...

"Linus? Linus!" They called out, their breath expanding out in thick plumes before crashing down onto their features as they rushed around the open area. The farmer nearly fell into any largend all of the piles of snow, waving their arms in the mounds and trying to be gentle as they disperesed the ivory power, as they did not want to accidentally smack the old man in the face if they found him. They weren't sure what they'd rather find, a frozen blue hermit shivering under a blanket of white death or no broken body at all. The red pulsing alarm clock they called a heart was nearly bursting out of their chest, every single bad situation was playing out like a bad montage in an old school cartoon as they searched and called out for their friend.

There was only one other place in this area of the town, the taunting building that towered over the small farmer. Roaring out its thick mist like an angry spirit trying to ward off anyone drawing near its domain, the farmer was beyond intimidated by the beast of a building. But they had to check...

The heavy metal door swung open with a loud clang as if a giant troll punched it from the inside, the frigid winter air assaulted by the lavender-infused fog.

"Linus?!"


End file.
